Background
Carolyn M. Gautier sought discovery from Johnson & Johnson in litigation pending in Louisiana’s 19th Judicial District Court. Topic No. 4 of her First Amended Notice requested documents sufficient to show payments made during the preceding fifteen years to expert witnesses in cosmetic-talc litigation, including experts other than those involved in Gautier’s case.
On July 13, 2026, the trial court ordered Johnson & Johnson to produce responsive documents. In a separate judgment dated August 21, 2026, it also ordered the deposition of Kristen Fournier concerning the contents of her declaration. Johnson & Johnson applied to the First Circuit for supervisory review.
The Court’s Holding
The First Circuit granted the writ. Although trial courts possess broad discretion over discovery, the court held that the order requiring fifteen years of compensation information concerning experts in other cosmetic-talc cases was overbroad, unduly burdensome, and beyond the scope of Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article 1425(B).
The court reversed the July 13 judgment to the extent it required Johnson & Johnson to produce expert-compensation discovery concerning experts not designated to testify in Gautier’s case. For the same stated reasons, it also reversed the August 21 judgment ordering Fournier’s deposition concerning her declaration.
Key Takeaways
- A trial court’s broad discretion over discovery remains subject to supervisory correction for abuse of discretion.
- Louisiana’s expert-discovery rules did not permit this fifteen-year demand for compensation information concerning experts who were not designated to testify in the case.
- The First Circuit also rejected the related order compelling a deposition about a declarant’s declaration.
Why It Matters
The ruling limits efforts to obtain expansive expert-compensation records from a litigant when the requested information concerns experts who will not testify in the pending case. Parties seeking bias-related expert discovery must keep their requests within the scope of Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article 1425(B) and avoid demands that are overbroad or unduly burdensome.